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Veronica Mars Kickstarts Movie With $2 Million Funding Goal

After nearly six years off the air, Veronica Mars may finally have its comeback as a movie.

Series creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign today to fund the film, which would focus on the core cast back in their hometown for a high school reunion — a fitting setting, considering the first two of the show’s three seasons took place in high school. The video posted with the Kickstarter features quite a bit of the original cast, including series star Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Ryan Hanson and Enrico Colantoni, with an appearance by Thomas.

The series starred Bell as snarky Neptune, California, teen Veronica Mars, who worked as an assistant to her father in his private investigation business. Each episode would see Veronica solve a smaller mystery for one of her peers, while also getting closer to figuring out the season’s big mystery. The show was known for its serialized storytelling and its strong commitment to character. Veronica Mars originally aired on UPN in 2004, but shifted to The CW in 2006 following the merger with the WB. The show lasted one more season before cancellation. However, a teaser segment contained on the show’s third season DVD revealed that Season 4 would have followed Veronica in the future as an FBI agent — a storyline that likely won’t be the focus of the film.

While it may seem as though a Veronica Mars movie is a longshot, even if funding is reached, it’s much further along than the concept might have you believe. Not only did Entertainment Weekly report the Kickstarter video as actually being shot in February 2012, this is a project that both Thomas and Bell are very much on board with, to the point that Thomas has received the blessing of the show’s rights holder, Warner Bros.

“Kristen and I met with the Warner Bros. brass, and they agreed to allow us to take this shot,” Thomas said on Kickstarter. “They were extremely cool about it, as a matter of fact. Their reaction was, if you can show there’s enough fan interest to warrant a movie, we’re on board. So this is it. This is our shot. I believe it’s the only one we’ve got. It’s nerve-wracking. I suppose we could fail in spectacular fashion, but there’s also the chance that we completely revolutionize how projects like ours can get made. No Kickstarter project ever has set a goal this high. It’s up to you, the fans, now. If the project is successful, our plan is to go into production this summer and the movie will be released in early 2014.”

As of the writing of this piece, funding is closing in on $500,000 out of its $2 million goal with 30 days to go. Should the project succeed, it will be the highest-funded Kickstarter project of all time. The most expensive reward tier, $10,000 for a speaking role in the film, has already been reserved.